


Shelter Through the Storm

by Laylah



Category: Kamen Rider Amazons (2016)
Genre: Episode Tag, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-21
Updated: 2016-09-21
Packaged: 2018-08-16 13:55:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8104999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laylah/pseuds/Laylah
Summary: He can't save everyone. But he can take Mamoru away from this horror, and he's going to.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [1010nabulation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/1010nabulation/gifts).



The rain pours down around them, merciless, as Haruka pulls Mamoru with him—away from the team, away from the tunnels, away from Mizuki and her sweet well-intentioned inability to understand. The fog from the Tlaloc operation makes Haruka's lungs itch, and he's one of the lucky ones. The less fortunate Amazons are hissing and steaming as they stagger through the streets, their skin splitting and blackening as they die by the hundreds. Haruka feels sick. This was his mother's plan, his mother's _solution_ for the existence of beings like him and Mamoru.

"Here," he says, as they circle around to where he'd left his bike. "Can you hold onto me?"

Mamoru nods silently, his expression still shocked and miserable, blood still streaking his face and hands. He climbs onto the back of the bike behind Haruka, tucking his face against the back of Haruka's shoulder, and they take off.

He's not going anywhere in particular, just _away_. He can't save everyone. He can't even save a reasonable fraction of them. But he can take Mamoru away from this horror, and he's going to. The bike roars up the highway and he's probably going too fast, probably being too reckless as he weaves through traffic, but he can't help himself. They need to get out.

Near the edge of the city he realizes they do have a place they can go—not a place they can stay, but a place they can take shelter through the storm, at least. There's a house near here that he knows will be standing empty, because they killed the inhabitant a week ago. Haruka pulls off the highway and turns toward the Amazon's empty house.

Mamoru still doesn't say anything when they get there, just stumbling along in Haruka's wake as they circle around to the back door and break in. _I'm sorry_ , Haruka thinks, as if the ghost of the Amazon might still be here to hear it. _We were wrong_.

"Come on," he says aloud, taking Mamoru's hand. "Let's get cleaned up." Mamoru's fingers are cold, but his grip is tight.

They pick their way through the living room with its trashed furniture, all the souvenirs of another life that Nozama and the team brought to an end, and find the bathroom. Haruka flicks the light on, turns to Mamoru, and stops in horror. "Mamoru, what happened?"

Mamoru sniffles. "It hurts," he says. 

Tlaloc, Haruka realizes. Tlaloc is what happened. Mamoru's skin is a raw, bloody mess, a patch along his jaw and then a wide stripe down his torso where it looks like he's been horribly burned.

"Hold on," Haruka says. He's shaking right down to his bones, sick with horror and furious at every self-righteous human who thought this was an acceptable thing to do. "We'll get you patched up."

"Okay," Mamoru whispers. He slips off Haruka's bloodstained jacket and stands there shivering, skinny and hurt and lost. Haruka drapes a towel over his shoulders and then opens up the medicine cabinet to see what they have on hand.

It's nothing like the first aid supplies the team carries with them, of course. Ordinary people don't need to be that prepared, even if they're Amazons. Still, there are antiseptic wipes, and there are bandages that should at least take care of the wound on Mamoru's face. It's better than nothing.

"Sorry," Haruka says as he turns back with the supplies. "This is going to sting."

Mamoru nods unhappily. He trembles when the antiseptic touches the raw spots, and makes a hurt little sound like he's trying not to sob, and the ache in Haruka's heart gets sharper. "Mizusawa," Mamoru says, his eyes squeezed shut. "I ruined the team."

"No, you didn't," Haruka says automatically.

"But Misaki—"

"You didn't," Haruka insists. _I don't care about Misaki_ , he doesn't say. Mamoru cares, and that's the important thing. "The team was already falling apart. It had to, eventually, because even if we were _tame_ ," and that word feels so bitter, "we're still Amazons. Today just made everything fall apart faster."

He smooths the bandage over Mamoru's jaw and Mamoru looks at him, searching, eyes bright with tears. "I didn't mean to eat him."

"I know," Haruka says. "Nobody loved the team as much as you."

The tears spill over and Mamoru's shoulders shake. Haruka wants to hug him, but with the raw wound across his middle that would be a bad idea. Instead he takes Mamoru's face in both hands and leans in, pressing their foreheads together gently. Mamoru's hands come to rest on his shoulders and they stand there for a minute just holding on, quiet.

"Okay," Haruka says at last. "We should find some way to bandage you up the rest of the way."

They end up tearing a sheet into strips and winding that around Mamoru's middle so the wound won't be exposed. It's not ideal but it'll do. Haruka thinks but doesn't say that at least the fact that Mamoru had a good meal today means he should be able to heal pretty quickly. Maybe he should be more upset that it happened. Definitely if he were human he would be.

But he's not human, and he's only alive tonight because he was lucky and the humans' plan to wipe them out wasn't perfect. He's having trouble feeling much sympathy right now.

"What will we do now?" Mamoru asks when they're through with his bandages. "We can't go back."

"No," Haruka agrees. He wants to help, wants to be the anchor that Mamoru clearly needs. "I don't know yet where we'll go. But it'll be okay. We'll stick together and we'll figure something out."

Mamoru takes a deep breath and nods once, decisively. "I'm glad Mizusawa is here," he says.

"Me too," Haruka says, and realizes as he says it that it's true. Of all the people he's met since this nightmare started, he thinks Mamoru is the one he can trust most, the one who understands what it's like to be in this position and who's still a good person anyway. "Let's get some sleep while we can," he says. "Tomorrow, when the rain is over, we can figure out where to go from here."

They curl up under a pile of blankets together, Mamoru's back against Haruka's chest, and finally the chill of being soaked through evaporates. Mamoru seems to fall asleep quickly, like all the terrible things that happened today have worn him out. Haruka stays awake a little longer, listening to the drum of the killing rain on the roof and the steady soft rhythm of Mamoru's breathing. 

He's worried about tomorrow, but they're the lucky ones. They're safe for now, and they'll have a tomorrow to worry about. When it arrives, they'll face it. And they'll survive.


End file.
